The proliferation of mind-blowing lines in Wolf Hall makes it virtually impossible to single one out. I have restricted my selection to two. For now.
In the first, Thomas Cromwell is remembering a brief youth spent at the hands of his violent father:
"One fear creates a dereliction, the offence brings on a greater fear, and there comes a point where the fear is too great and the human spirit just gives up and a child wanders off numb and directionless and ends up following a crowd and watching a killing."
The second is a comment from King Henry about Anne Boleyn:
"I chase but one hind, he says, one strange deer timid and wild, and she leads me off the paths that other men have trod, and by myself into the depths of the wood."
A king and a smith's son, both wholly bewildered. Cromwell has the benefit of hindsight, though: you can't blame Henry for being blindsided later in life. For being silly, perhaps, but not for being human.
No comments:
Post a Comment